IASbaba’s PAPER 1: DAY 1 TO DAY 50 TLP COMPILATION Q.1) “Architecture traditionally, i.e., before the arrival of British on the Indian soil, was from the social point of view, a creation of spectacular sculptural forms hewn out of stone.” Analyze. Understanding the question is of a very high importance in such complicated questions. We need to identify the main keywords of the question to see what exactly they are asking. Here the key phrases are – “traditionally”, “social point of view”, “spectacular” and “stone”. So, what the question demands is this – Before the arrival of Britishers in India, most of the stone architecture was a spectacle to behold, but their main purposes were just for socio- religious gatherings and were not much of practical use. Whereas most of the British architecture were of daily use, like administration, post offices or railway stations. An analysis of this phenomenon was required. But, this is only 3/4th of the answer. One should also go further and say that the statement is not completely correct, as some of the old architecture were used for practical purposes also, like building of viharas as residential buildings, usage of temples for dance competitions and many more. So, a balanced ending with the right examples at the right places was needed. Some of you have written such answers, but the Top Answer goes to – Ashoka Ans) Traditional stone architecture of India is perceived as a creation of spectacular sculptural forms without much social relevance, supported by the following examples: Initially started with creation of grand and magnificent stupas adorned with beautiful carvings and images. Gandhara, Mathura and Amravati schools produced beautiful images of Buddha. Temple architecture began during Gupta period, latter flourished under various rulers. They were built to show the wealth and power of rulers. Mughal emperors built tombs, minarets, mausoleums, arches which reflected their wealth and glory. However various other architectural forms have shown their importance for other people Iasbaba.com Page 1 IASbaba’s PAPER 1: DAY 1 TO DAY 50 TLP COMPILATION Monolithic pillars erected by Asoka, carried his message to people. Chaityas, viharas and monasteries served Budhha and Jaina followers. Temples became centre of social activities in towns. When we compare it with the British architecture in India, we see that most of the latter ones have served many other purposes, but not all of them. They built churches, administrative and residential buildings such as Parliament house, Connaught place, Victoria terminus of Mumbai. But some others like India Gate, Gateway of India and Victoria memorial reflect mainly imperial glory. Architecture in India during every period had some sort of social importance, which kept on increasing with time. Q.2) “Hindi is a direct descendant of the Sanskrit language through Prakrit and Apabhramsa.” Narrate the evolution of Hindi as a language until modern times, giving suitable literary examples wherever necessary. This is a straight forward answer, mainly asked the evolution of Hindi as a literary language. The various phases or “kal” should be mentioned, alongwith the various important authors in Hindi, like Prem Chand and examples of their works too. Also, one should explain how Hindi is related to Prakrit, Apabhramsa, Sankrit and Urdu. This would complete the answer and give a complete closure to the question. The Top Answer goes to – Vicks. Introduction is by Manpreet Ans) Hindi, a part of Indo-Aryan family of languages, is a descendent of Vedic Sanskrit. Prakrit that evolved from Vedic Sanskrit, and Pali that from Prakrit gave birth to another language, Apabhramsa which later gave way to Khari Boli, the dialect on which today’s standard Hindi is based. Evolution of the Hindi literature can be divided into four stages. a) Adikal – Period between 10th century-14th century A.D. During this period the hindi poetry highlighted religious ideas and praised the heroic deeds of rulers and warriors. Ex: Chandbardai’s Prithviraj Raso. Iasbaba.com Page 2 IASbaba’s PAPER 1: DAY 1 TO DAY 50 TLP COMPILATION b) Bhaktikal – Period between 14th century-17th century A.D. Bhaktikal poetry is divided between Nirgunas and Sagunas. Nirgunas believed in a formless God and Sagunas believed in human form of God.Nirgunas were further divided into two more groups. First group believed in a single God ex. Kabir,Guru Nanak, whereas other group believed that through love one can realise God ex. Jayasi. On the other hand Sagunas were the followers of Rama and Krishna ex. Tulsi Das, Surdas, Meerabai. c) Ritikal- Period between 17th century-19th century A.D. During this period sanskrit rhetorical tradition was emulated on aspects like rasa, alankara, nayak-nayika bheda. In addition to this Brajbhasa was also used in the hindi poetry. d) Adhunikkal- Around mid of 19th century A.D. Khariboli was very much prevalent during this period. Ordinary writing in hindi too evolved during this period. Eg., Bharatendu Harishchandra, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Prem Chand and Harivansharai Bachchan. Two general but effective answers Sepoy No 1446 Hindi as its modern form developed during 18th century.Prior to that it was evolving in some forms during medieval era like Brajbhasa(Surdas), Rajsthani dialect(Mirabai),Avadhi (Tulsidas) etc. Sanskrit is the pristine old classical language of India.It had gone many changes with time.So Pali evolved as people’s language to teach Buddhism,Prakrit for Jainism and Apabhramsa as north India offshoot.The early forms of Hindi language had element of these local languages.During Bhakti movement new form of Bhajans and Kirtans were made using these forms.This period is called Adikala of Hindi. Major events in development of modern Hindi language: The traditionalists: Bhartendu Harishchandra’s contribution during late 19th century. He is called father of Modern Hindi language. Premchanda depicted contemporary realism through Gaban, Godan, Karmbhoomi and other creations. Chhayawad: it was a romantic upsurge helped by Jayshankar Prasad, Nirala, Sumitranandan Pant and Mahadevi verma. Iasbaba.com Page 3 IASbaba’s PAPER 1: DAY 1 TO DAY 50 TLP COMPILATION Pragtivaad and Prayagavada: It was influenced by Marrxist ideology. Yashpal and Ageya come under it. Ageya was a prolific travel writer. Nakenwad: It developed post independence. It takes it name from three writers: Nalin Vilochar, Kesari Sharma and Naresh Mehta. Modern Hindi language is fraught with original creativity. With globalization there is a visible impact on Hindi language and sustained efforts are needed for maintaining its originality and strength. Indushree Sanskrit is considered to be the mother of many Indian languages including Hindi. The grammar and formal vocabulary in Hindi is largely borrowed from Sanskrit. Hindi developed from Apabhramsha between 7th and 8th century A.D. under the patronage of Rajputs. Prithviraj Raso is one of the earliest books of Hindi which belongs to this age of heroic poetry. Braj Bhasha, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Awadhi are all different forms of Hindi. The Bhakti saints like Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Mirabai and others are noted for their works in these various dialects. Hindi as we know today is Khari Boli, a dialect spoken around Delhi. Amir Khusrau is credited with extensive use of Khari Boli during the 13th century. However it was only in 19th century that Hindi became prominent owing to its contributions to the nationalist movement. Several newspapers and books were published in Hindi like the Calcutta Samachar and Bharat Mitra. Satyartha Prakash by Swami Dayanand Saraswati popularised literary Hindi. Munshi Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Jaishankar Prasad are also prominent writers of this time. After Independence, Hindi was accorded the status of official language of India under the Article 343 of Indian Constitution. Being the official language of most of the states in northern India, Hindi enjoys both popularity and significance in recent days. Iasbaba.com Page 4 IASbaba’s PAPER 1: DAY 1 TO DAY 50 TLP COMPILATION Q.3) “Besides entertainment, puppetry serves as an applied art form, conveying meaningful messages and stories, thus creating a more moral and value-laden society”. Examine the various forms of puppetry and their influence on the Indian history as an art form. The various art-forms are of a very high importance. Puppets and their traditional forms have been coming in the newspapers since 2013, and we were expecting a question on puppets for the past 2 years, but it has not come. There is a very high chance of a 10-marker coming on puppetry this year (or next), so reading everything about puppets is recommended. In this question, the various types should be enumerated along with examples and places where they are used. This will take up 100 words. The rest of the answer should speak about how pupperty is used as a medium to convey moral stories. They were also used as propaganda during the Indian National Movement, using plays like Neel Darpan etc. They have also been used to portray scenes from mythology like Ramayana etc., which had a great influence on the people. Such in-depth analysis, along with the facts should be the crux of the answer. Such answers were written by many, but the Top Answer goes to – Niranjan P Ans) India, considered as the land of puppets showcases different kind of puppetry, both for the purpose of entertainment and conveying moral – value laden messages to the society. Earliest reference of puppetry is traced to the Tamil epic SILAPPADIKARAM. India hosts 4 categories of puppetry 1. String puppetry – Here the limbs are connected with strings which help for faster movements of hands and legs. Eg-Kathputhli (Rajasthan) 2. Rod puppetry- An off shot of string puppetry but rods are used instead of strings .Eg- Putulnauch 3.